1. The Field of the Invention
The invention relates to devices, methods, and systems for printing simplex and duplex pages of a print job. Specifically, the invention relates to devices, methods, and systems for printing orientation sensitive simplex and duplex pages within a single print job.
2. The Relevant Art
Information is becoming increasingly more available in digital format. The information is stored for example on hard disk drives, CD-ROMs, memory cards, etc. For text information, however, many people still prefer to store, disseminate, and review printed pages. To get the information from a digital format to printed pages, printers are used.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional printing system 100 used for printing documents. Generally, a host application 102 prepares and formats a print job 104. The host application 102 is typically a software application with printing capabilities. For example, the host application 102 may include a word processor, a spreadsheet, a scheduler, or the like. Alternatively, the host application 102 may be a print server, printer driver, operating system component, or other software component configured to provide a print job 104 to a printer 106.
Typically, the print job 104 comprises control information and data. The data is the information stored as a document that is to be reproduced on a printed page. While the term xe2x80x9cdocumentxe2x80x9d as used herein generally refers to text documents, those of skill in the art recognize that a document may comprise a variety of types of printed information available from a printer including text, graphics, or a combination of these. The control information provides instructions to the printer regarding the format, type, and layout of the printed page on the paper.
The print job 104 may be sent to a printer 106 across a link 108. While a conventional printer 106 is illustrated and described, those of skill in the art will readily recognize that the printer 106 may be embodied as an ink jet printer, laser printer, copier, mopier, or other document reproducing office machine. The link 108 represents a communication path between the application 102 and the printer 106. The link 108 may be a direct connection such as a parallel port, but is most often a network connection such as a wired or wireless LAN (Local Area Network) connection. The printer 106 is configured to print the document on paper as requested by the print job 104.
Generally, the printer 106 prints on pre-cut sheets of paper of a selected size and orientation fed from a bin. The paper is fed in one direction through the printer 106 with the paper originating in a portrait or landscape orientation. The printer 106 prints either on the side facing up or the side facing down as a sheet passes through the printer 106.
The printer 106 may be configured in certain currently available systems to provide both simplex printing, and duplex printing. As used herein, simplex printing refers to printing on a single side of a sheet of paper and duplex printing refers to printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. Consequently, simplex pages are pages which have printed information on one side of a sheet of paper and duplex pages are pages which have printed information on both sides of a sheet of paper.
The conventional manner of simplex printing and duplex printing on conventional blank sheets is relatively straight forward. The paper is fed through the printing mechanism and out to a stacker. If the page is a simplex page, the paper passes straight through the printer. If the page is a duplex page, one page is printed on one side and then the paper is flipped over and the paper passes through the printing mechanism again to print a page on the opposite side of the paper. By flipping the paper, a single side print mechanism is capable of duplex printing.
Simplex printing and duplex printing becomes more complicated when the paper includes special characteristics. Examples of such characteristics include letterhead, pre-printed single or dual sided forms, paper containing watermarks, logos, borders, or backgrounds on one side, paper with a special finish or design on one side, and the like. Paper for which a designated side is intended to receive printed information is referred to herein a side-sensitive paper. The page to be printed on is referred to as a side-sensitive page. Because conventional printers 106 are designed to only print on one side at a time, side-sensitive pages generally require that the paper face either up or down in the bin.
In addition, the paper may include physical characteristics such as holes along one edge, an irregular shaped edge, perforations, or the like, such that a designated placement of the information on the page in relation to the physical characteristic is desired. Paper for which the edge or other physical characteristics of the paper requires that a certain edge be oriented in a particular direction in relation to the printing mechanisms is referred to herein as edge-sensitive paper. Because conventional printers 106 are designed to minimize paper movement, including flipping, edge-sensitive paper must be oriented in the bin with a particular edge facing the printer 106.
Of course, pages may be printed on paper which is both side sensitive and edge sensitive. The term xe2x80x9corientation sensitivexe2x80x9d as used herein refers to print jobs and corresponding paper which are side sensitive, edge sensitive, or both side and edge sensitive. Orientation sensitive print jobs require that the paper be placed in the bin in such a manner that a particular side is facing up and a particular edge is facing the printer 106. The particular paper characteristics discussed above may cause pages to be orientation sensitive for either simplex printing, duplex printing, or both.
FIG. 1A illustrates a problem which exists when printing simplex and duplex pages on orientation sensitive paper that passes through a printer 106 configured to print on a single side of the paper at a time. Suppose orientation sensitive paper 110 is supplied to a printer 106 that executes a print job 104 for printing simplex and duplex pages. The paper 110 in this example has holes punched on the left-hand side. Generally, simplex pages travel along a simplex path 112. Along the simplex path 112, the paper 110 is not flipped, consequently, the paper 110 exits the printer 106 in the same orientation, with the holes oriented on the left-hand side. Duplex pages travel along a duplex path 114 and are flipped to allow for printing on the opposite side. Because the duplex page is flipped, as mentioned above, the duplex page exits that printer 106 with the holes oriented on the right-hand side. Of course, this problem is compounded if the simplex pages require one type of orientation sensitive paper and the duplex pages require a different type of orientation sensitive paper. For example, in addition to being edge-sensitive, the duplex pages may be side-sensitive as well.
Generally, it is desirable to make the printing process as automated as possible. Currently, users expect the printed pages they retrieve from the printer to be properly oriented. Orientation sensitive pages which exit the printer in a non-uniform orientation require a user to re-arrange the pages. This may be inconvenient, particularly if the number of duplex pages and simplex pages varies considerably. In the worst case, a user may be required to rearrange every other page in the stack of printed pages for a document. Consequently, one problem faced in the relevant art is that printing information on orientation sensitive paper in which some pages are simplex and some are duplex results in pages stacked in a non-uniform orientation.
FIG. 1B illustrates a simplified side view of a printer 106. Of course, the printer 106 may include other components which are not illustrated herein for clarity purposes. Illustrated in FIG. 1B are examples of a simplex path 112 and a duplex path 114. Generally, the printer 106 is designed to minimize cost and the number of moving parts. Accordingly, the printer 106 includes a print module 116 that prints on one side of the paper as the paper travels through the print module 116. In printers that are capable of printing on both sides simultaneously, there is generally no need for both a simplex path 112 and a duplex path 114.
The simplex path 112 (indicated by solid arrows) begins with take-up rollers 118. The take-up rollers 118 feed a sheet of paper 110 from a bin 120 and thread the paper 110 into the print module 116. The print module 116 prints the page on one side of the paper, generally the underside. The printed simplex page is then placed in the stacker 122. The stacker 122 collects the printed pages as they are completed. When the print job 104 is finished, all the printed pages may be retrieved from the stacker 122.
The duplex path 114 (indicated by the dashed arrows) also begins with the take-up rollers 118. The paper 110 travels the same path as a simplex page into the print module 116. Once the paper 110 exits the print module 116, however, a flipper 124 directs the paper using a plurality of rollers 126 and guides the paper back into the print module 116 with the opposite side facing up from when the last page was printed. The direction of travel of the paper 110 is reversed. The print module 116 then prints the opposite side, and the printed duplex page is placed into the stacker 122.
Referring still to FIG. 1B, as indicated above, orientation sensitive paper that passes through the simplex path 112 and the duplex path 114 in a single print job 104 results in a non-uniform orientation in the stacker 122. Several solutions to this problem have been attempted. In one solution, if a print job 104 includes both simplex and duplex pages, all of the pages travel along the duplex path 114. In this manner, all the pages in the stacker 122 have a uniform orientation. However, the simplex pages are unnecessarily flipped and moved within the printer 106. This unnecessary movement causes excessive wear and tear on printer components and may lead to premature failure. Furthermore, making the simplex pages travel the duplex path 114 reduces the throughput for the print job 104. The throughput may be degraded as much as 50%, in situations where most of the pages are printed in simplex.
Referring to FIG. 1C, in another solution, one paper bin of the printer contains paper oriented for simplex pages and a second bin contains paper oriented for duplex pages. The host application 102 is programmed to identify which bin to use for each page or groups of pages. For example, the host application 102 may include an instruction 128a indicating that for Pages 1-3, Bin 2 is to be used. Pages 1-3 may be duplex pages. Similarly, instruction 128b may indicate that Pages 4-6 use Bin 1 which holds paper oriented for simplex pages. In this manner, the paper may be oriented properly in Bin 1 and Bin 2 such that when the printed pages are stacked in the stacker 122, the pages have a uniform orientation.
Unfortunately, this solution requires significant changes to a host application 102. The logic for determining which page is fed from which bin must be incorporated into each host application 102. Modifying, upgrading, and updating the potentially many thousands of host applications 102 which may interface with the printer 106 is impractical.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved system and method that overcomes the problems and disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, the system and method should print a print job comprising orientation sensitive pages such that the printed pages are stacked in uniform orientation. In addition, the system and method should print a print job comprising orientation sensitive pages without requiring programming changes to a host application. Furthermore, the system and method should print a print job comprising orientation sensitive pages such that duplex pages travel along a duplex path and simplex pages travel along a simplex path. The system and method should allow for printing a print job comprising orientation sensitive pages such that the host application can designate a single bin. Additionally, the improved system and method for printing a print job comprising orientation sensitive pages should allow a user to designate a simplex bin, a duplex bin, and/or whether a print job is orientation sensitive.
The various elements of the present invention have been developed in response to the present state of the art, and in particular, in response to the problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solved by currently available printing systems. Accordingly, the present invention provides an improved apparatus, method, and system for printing a print job for which the pages are orientation sensitive.
In one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for printing a print job for which the pages are orientation sensitive includes a controller that communicates with a print module. Program code resides within the controller, and is programmed to selectively designate a first bin for paper to print simplex pages of a print job based on control information associated with the print job. The program code is further programmed to selectively designate a second bin for paper to print duplex pages of a print job based on control information associated with the print job. Alternatively, the program code may designate other selected bins for printing duplex pages and further selected bins for printing simplex pages. Generally, one bin may be designated for print jobs involving simplex pages while a second bin may be designated for print jobs involving duplex pages.
The print module, in one embodiment, includes a simplex path and a duplex path. Simplex pages are threaded along the simplex path and duplex pages are threaded along the duplex path. Preferably, the first bin comprises paper oriented for simplex pages and the second bin comprises paper oriented for duplex pages. The paper in the first bin and/or second bin may be oriented with respect to side sensitivity and/or edge sensitivity.
In certain embodiments, the apparatus comprises a user interface that allows a user to select a first bin and a second bin. The user interface may include a display, an input module, and an output module. The input module may communicate with the display to prompt a user for a selection of a first bin for simplex pages, and a second bin for duplex pages. Alternatively, the simplex bin may by default be the single bin indicated by the print job and the user may only be prompted for a duplex bin which is logically linked to the simplex bin. In addition, the user interface may allow a user to identify that a pending print job is orientation sensitive.
The output module preferably communicates a user""s selection to a controller that communicates with a print module to selectively designate between the first bin and the second bin for different pages of a print job based on control information associated with a print job. The display may comprise a touch sensitive LCD or monitor for providing graphic prompts and allowing a user to provide the selection. Alternatively, the user interface may include a keypad or other input device to allow a user to provide the selection.
In one embodiment, the controller, program code, user interface, and print module may be included within a printer, copier, or other printing system. The system may include a communication module for receiving a print job comprising simplex and duplex pages. Alternatively, the controller, program code, user interface, and print module may be implemented in separate components. For example, the user interface may be integrated with a host application while the controller, program code, and print module are integrated with a printer.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method for printing a print job for which pages are orientation sensitive is provided. The method includes designating a bin for simplex feeding of paper, and a bin for duplex feeding of paper for a printer. Alternatively, a printing system may associate the simplex bin with a single bin identified by the print job and a duplex bin may be designated by default. Next, a print job comprising a simplex page and a duplex page is received. Paper is fed from the simplex bin to print the simplex page and fed from the duplex bin to print the duplex page in response to control information for the print job.
The method may further include threading the simplex page along a simplex path and threading the duplex page along a duplex path through the printer. The pages are printed such that simplex pages and duplex pages are placed in a stacker with a uniform orientation. Alternatively, a user may designate the simplex bin and the duplex bin as well as designating a print job as orientation sensitive.
The various elements and aspects of the present invention provide a novel apparatus for printing a print job for which the pages are orientation sensitive. A print job comprising orientation sensitive simplex and duplex pages is printed such that the printed pages are stacked in a uniform orientation. Paper movement and code changes to the host applications are minimized. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.